Sector General

by James White

Series:

Sector General #5

Publisher:

Orb

Copyright:

1983

Printing:

2002

ISBN:

0-312-87770-6

Format:

Trade paperback

Pages:

187

Sector General is the fifth book (or, probably more accurately,
collection) in the Sector General series. I blame the original publishers
for the confusion. The publication information is for the Alien
Emergencies omnibus, which includes the fourth through the sixth books in
the series.

Looking back on my previous reviews of this series (wow, it's been eight
years since I read the last one?), I see I was reviewing them as novels
rather than as short story collections. In retrospect, that was a
mistake, since they're composed of clearly stand-alone stories with a very
loose arc. I'm not going to go back and re-read the earlier collections
to give them proper per-story reviews, but may as well do this properly
here.

Overall, this collection is more of the same, so if that's what you want,
there won't be any negative surprises. It's another four
engineer-with-a-wrench stories about biological and medical puzzles, with
only a tiny bit of characterization and little hint to any personal life
for any of the characters outside of the job. Some stories are
forgettable, but White does create some memorable aliens. Sadly, the
stories don't take us to the point of real communication, so those aliens
stop at biological puzzles and guesswork. "Combined Operation" is
probably the best, although "Accident" is the most philosophical and an
interesting look at the founding principle of Sector General.

"Accident": MacEwan and Grawlya-Ki are human and alien brought
together by a tragic war, and forever linked by a rather bizarre war
monument. (It's a very neat SF concept, although the implications and
undiscussed consequences don't bear thinking about too deeply.) The
result of that war was a general recognition that such things should not
be allowed to happen again, and it brought about a new, deep commitment
to inter-species tolerance and politeness. Which is, in a rather
fascinating philosophical twist, exactly what MacEwan and Grawlya-Ki are
fighting against: not the lack of aggression, which they completely agree
with, but with the layers of politeness that result in every species
treating all others as if they were eggshells. Their conviction is that
this cannot create a lasting peace.

This insight is one of the most profound bits I've read in the Sector
General novels and supports quite a lot of philosophical debate. (Sadly,
there isn't a lot of that in the story itself.) The backdrop against
which it plays out is an accidental crash in a spaceport facility,
creating a dangerous and potentially deadly environment for a variety of
aliens. Given the collection in which this is included and the
philosophical bent described above, you can probably guess where this
goes, although I'll leave it unspoiled if you can't. It's an idea that
could have been presented with more subtlety, but it's a really great
piece of setting background that makes the whole series snap into focus.
A much better story in context than its surface plot. (7)

"Survivor": The hospital ship Rhabwar rescues a sole
survivor from the wreck of an alien ship caused by incomplete safeguards
on hyperdrive generators. The alien is very badly injured and unconscious
and needs the full attention of Sector General, but on the way back, the
empath Prilicla also begins suffering from empathic hypersensitivity.
Conway, the protagonist of most of this series, devotes most of his
attention to that problem, having delivered the rescued alien to competent
surgical hands. But it will surprise no regular reader that the problems
turn out to be linked (making it a bit improbable that it takes the
doctors so long to figure that out). A very typical entry in the series.
(6)

"Investigation": Another very typical entry, although this time
the crashed spaceship is on a planet. The scattered, unconscious bodies
of the survivors, plus signs of starvation and recent amputation on all of
them, convinces the military (well, police is probably more accurate)
escort that this is may be a crime scene. The doctors are unconvinced,
but cautious, and local sand storms and mobile vegetation add to the
threat. I thought this alien design was a bit less interesting (and a lot
creepier). (6)

"Combined Operation": The best (and longest) story of this
collection. Another crashed alien spacecraft, but this time it's huge,
large enough (and, as they quickly realize, of a design) to indicate a
space station rather than a ship, except that it's in the middle of
nowhere and each segment contains a giant alien worm creature. Here,
piecing together the biology and the nature of the vehicle is only the
beginning; the conclusion points to an even larger problem, one that
requires drawing on rather significant resources to solve. (On a
deadline, of course, to add some drama.) This story requires the doctors
to go unusually deep into the biology and extrapolated culture of the
alien they're attempting to rescue, which made it more intellectually
satisfying for me. (7)